What Happens When You Bring Mindfulness into Every Classroom?

Christy Lynn Anana is a Mindfulness Director with Whole School Mindfulness at Quil Ceda Tulalip Elementary, located on the land of The Tulalip Tribes in Washington State, north of Seattle. In this episode, Christy offers listeners two guided meditations alongside a peek into her published book series called I Am Healing. This is one of my top 20 most-listened-to episodes, back now as part of our summer rerelease series. My guest is Christy Lynn Anana, Mindfulness Director at Quil Ceda Tulalip Elementary and author of the I Am Healing book series. We talk about classroom belonging, classroom behavior, and what active learning looks like when a school builds mindfulness into its actual culture instead of treating it as an extra. Christy walks me through a grounding breath practice, explains how student engagement and student motivation shift when kids have tools for big emotions, and describes teaching fifth graders to lead student participation in mindfulness for younger kids. We get into attention in class, effective teaching, instructional strategies, and lesson planning for teachers navigating low engagement after the pandemic. Christy also breaks down the difference between school counseling and mindfulness coaching, what instructional coaching and teacher support can look like at the district level, and why mentor teachers and new teachers alike need coaching strategies built around real classroom pressure, not just professional development checkboxes. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome and introduction 1:13 Three-breath grounding exercise 3:48 Inspiring educators: Dr. Anthony Craig 6:16 What a Mindfulness Director does 7:48 Defining mindfulness 9:47 Fifth graders leading mindfulness 12:29 The I Am Healing book series 13:53 I Can Feel Better and EFT tapping 16:09 A Safe Place and EMDR-inspired practice 18:26 What is EMDR 20:10 Circling up and big emotions 21:33 Waves of Emotions 24:21 A Guide for Lonely Kids 25:05 Supporting families through grief 26:25 Mindfulness Director vs school counselor 31:34 Post-pandemic mental health trends 36:03 Call to action and resources 37:20 Closing guided meditation Episode Mentions: I Am Healing Book Series I Can Feel Better: A Tapping Story A Safe Place: Strategies to Feel Better Dr. Francine Shapiro - EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) Waves of Emotions: A Mindfulness Story A Guide for Lonely Kids Quil Ceda Tulalip Elementary University of Washington - Leadership for Learning (L4L) Program - Facebook Dr. Anthony Craig (Schoolutions S1 E5: Accessing the Wisdom of Tulalip Tribes' Elders as Cultural Guides in Public Schools with Dr. Anthony Craig) Tulalip Tribes Rainbow Dance - Boston Children's Foundation Dr. Bruce D. Perry EFT - Emotional Freedom Techniques Whole School Mindfulness Kobayashi Maru Tricia Hersey - Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto Sam Bennett's Circles (Types) of Engagement Schoolutions is the podcast for educators and school leaders, families and homeschoolers, and the coaches, counselors, and mentors who believe every student deserves to thrive. Join our community of educators committed to cultivating student success, inspired teaching, and creating inclusive classrooms with a pro-kid mindset focused on the whole child. 🌿Ready to grow alongside your children? Book a coaching session with me here. We'll unlock the expert who is already within you and surround you with a community of educators committed to forever getting better through collective expertise. 🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl Don't forget to🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators! #schoolutions #schoolutionspodcast #forevergettingbetter #5practicesofexpertteachers #curiositydriven #evidencebasedclassroomreadystrategies #ClassroomBelonging #StudentEngagement #InstructionalCoaching #TeacherSupport #SchoolCounselors #EducationLeadership #WholeChild #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #ProfessionalDevelopment #SchoolCulture #MentorTeachers #InclusiveTeaching #EquityInEducation #ParentInvolvement #EmpoweredEducators When teachers, coaches, administrators, and families grow together, they create schools where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged, supported, and ready to thrive.